Lawsuit pending against sewer district

May 10, 2013

MARTINSBURG - Feeling that inadequate measures are being taken to ensure clean water in Berkeley County, nonprofit organization Potomac Riverkeeper is prepared to get a resolution from federal court.

Potomac Riverkeeper recently submitted a Notice of Intent to file a Clean Water Act lawsuit against the Berkeley County Public Service Sewer District for discharge violations from three of its facilities.

"It's taking forever for the state to do its job in fixing the problems, and it's taking forever for Berkeley County Sewer District to fix its problems. So hopefully taking them into federal court will make something happen," said Brent Walls, Upper Potomac River manager for Potomac Riverkeeper.

The notice lists the facilities in violation as the Woods II wastewater treatment plant, the Opequon/Hedgesville waterwater treatment plant and the Baker Heights wastewater treatment plant.

The Notice of Intent alleges that the Woods II plant, a tributary to Back Creek, has 113 cumulative discharge violations for copper and ammonia, and the Baker Heights plant, discharging to the Opequon Creek, as having 23 violations of fecal coliform and exceeding its permit limits by 2,852 percent, on average.

The notice also lists the Opequon/Hedgesville plants, a tributary to the Opequon Creek, to contain 178 cumulative discharge violations for fecal coliform, ammonia, total suspended solids and monthly fecal coliform violations since 2006. The notice additionally cites that the plant has exceeding its fecal coliform permit limits on average by 8,699 percent.

Richard Lewis, attorney for the BCPSSD, said that the sewer district is already in negotiations with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to resolve these issues and has pledged a substantial investment toward correcting current problems.

"The district has already committed to spend $50 million in the next two years to upgrade is facilities and address many of the issues alleged," Lewis said.

The Notice of Intent is in effect for 60 days, after which Potomac Riverkeeper plans to file a Clean Water Act lawsuit if the organization believes the BCPSSD is not making enough of an effort to correct the alleged issues.

"What I hope to get out of this is some kind of communication and some kind of firm, concrete deadline that the facilities in question will actually clean up their act," Walls said.

While communication is probable, Lewis said that the sewer district is considering all of its options.

"(Potomac Riverkeeper) could have reached out to the district to find out what our plans were before sending the 60-day notice. The district is already committed to doing this. Instead, this seems to be benefiting just them," Lewis said.

Potomac Riverkeeper Inc. is a nonprofit organization founded in 2000, that is present throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and Washington D.C.

According to the organization's mission statement, it was founded to stop pollution and restore clean water in the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers and their tributaries through community engagement and enforcement of the Clean Water Act and other environmental law.

"The Opequon Creek is probably one of the more polluted streams here in the Eastern Panhandle because of the Berkeley County Sewer District. A lot of people I know have hesitation on being in the Opequon Creek and that's really a shame. People should and have the right to recreate in clean water," Walls said.